Websters has always had a strong ethos of employee empowerment and development. We believe this approach benefits the people that the company employs but also benefits clients since we are able to recruit and retain a higher calibre of professional to deal with their affairs.
This matters to clients because they need the firm to be ahead of the game in attracting talented professionals to join the team. The demand for the best professionals in firms exceeds the supply. So websters needs to be special to recruit and retain the best. Owners of a business take responsibility for looking after that business because. This is what clients need - high quality professionals who care about keeping the business strong.
In 2018 Andrew Webster made the decision that the future of the business would be as an Employee Owned business – the so-called “John Lewis model”. On 26 March 2018 an Employee Trust was created owning 14% of the share in the business in Trust for all the people employed in the Group. The remaining shares are owned by individuals working in the company and over time the Trust will increase its ownership by acquiring shares from older employees until it owns the majority of shares.
We believe that we are the largest UK accounting firm which is Employee Owned and we are members of the Employee Ownership Association. Unlike most firms of accountants we have never been a partnership. So for many years the firm has been owned by the people working in it – and now this includes everyone in the team.
If you are the owner of an accountancy business and are looking to retire or merge with an ethical firm then we would be very interested to have a conversation with you to see if you could join us. Please contact our Chief Executive, Andrew Webster in confidence if you want a discussion about this andrew@tax.uk.com
Websters is a member of the Employee Ownership Association.